A study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences projects future sea-level rise with a new model, providing crucial information for coastal planning and further impetus to cut carbon emissions. Sifting through data on thermal expansion and retreating glaciers, the two leading causes of sea-level rise in the past century, the authors confirm that sea level is rising at an unprecedented rate.

The climate agreement reached in Paris last December, seen by many as a critical step toward lowering greenhouse gas emissions, was big news – perhaps too big. Pointing to the thousands of articles about COP-21, National Geographic Senior Editor Marla Cone asked at a recent Wilson Center panel, “Is this a wise use of resources, when newsrooms are so stretched thin, to have everybody pretty much chasing the same stories?”

A four-part video series produced by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism gives an update on the beleaguered communities of Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake that supplies vital ecosystem services and livelihoods to 300,000 people in northwestern Kenya. The lake is fed entirely by the Omo River, flowing south from Ethiopia, but a newly completed upstream dam has raised questions about the future.

The problem seems simple: More people living in dense, low-lying cities means more people are vulnerable to flooding, storm surge, and sea-level rise. But the solution is not, writes Linda Shi in last month’s most-read story. Efforts to build resilience to the effects of climate change too often exacerbate inequalities, leaving the poorest and most marginalized just as bad off, if not worse, as before.

On February 1, the World Health Organization declared the spread of the Zika virus a public health emergency. The declaration was the WHO’s highest level of warning – so dire, in fact, that it has only been declared three times in the organization’s history. We believe that, as with Ebola, the lesson we learn must be the importance of robust universal primary health care services.

Migration is an important strategy for coping with environmental variability and change, but it can also place additional stress on ecosystems. Policymakers and practitioners are not always fully aware of these threats, nor fully prepared to manage them through appropriate interventions. Conservation professionals in the field therefore have a key role to play in reducing the harmful impacts that migration can have on the environment, and in mitigating any tensions that may emerge between migrant and host communities.

Since its adoption after COP-21 in December 2015, the Paris Agreement has received mixed reviews. Some stakeholders, mostly industrialized countries, see the climate deal as a success. Developing countries have generally been more cautiously optimistic, welcoming the agreement as the best option under the circumstances.